Facebook leaps in market debut

NEW YORK: Facebook shares leapt some 12 percent in opening trade Friday, then pared their gains, as the wildly popular social network made a splash in its market debut.

The shares, priced at $38 on Thursday in the largest-ever initial public offering (IPO) for a technology company, jumped to $42.55 in the opening Nasdaq trades before settling back with more moderate gains.

Trading opened at 1530 GMT, after what appeared to be a delay in the debut.

Less than 10 minutes later, the shares were up only 5.3 percent at $40. (AFP)